{"id":48,"date":"2025-10-14T08:16:42","date_gmt":"2025-10-14T08:16:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/myinformernews.com\/uk\/?p=48"},"modified":"2025-10-14T08:16:44","modified_gmt":"2025-10-14T08:16:44","slug":"nhs-pay-scales-2025-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/myinformernews.com\/uk\/nhs-pay-scales-2025-26\/","title":{"rendered":"NHS Pay Scales 2025\/26: Confirmed 3.6% Pay Rise and Full Band Breakdown"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The UK Government has confirmed a 3.6% pay rise<\/strong> for all NHS staff under the Agenda for Change<\/strong> framework for the 2025\/26 financial year. This increase replaces the earlier 3.5% prediction and will affect every pay band from Band 2 upwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The updated NHS pay tables for 2025\/26<\/strong> show how this rise will be applied across each pay band, including adjustments for London Weighting and National Living Wage changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How Much Is the NHS Pay Rise for 2025\/26?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A 3.6% pay increase<\/strong> has been agreed for NHS staff for 2025\/26. This uplift covers all Agenda for Change pay bands and will be backdated to 1 April 2025<\/strong>. Payments reflecting the increase are expected to be made in August 2025<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pay deal was influenced by several factors:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)<\/strong> recommended a 2.8% increase in late 2024, but negotiations and union pressure resulted in a higher figure.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • The NHS budget for 2025\/26<\/strong> allowed staffing costs to rise by up to 4%, providing scope for the 3.6% settlement.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Inflation<\/strong> and cost-of-living pressures required a raise that at least matched the Consumer Price Index, recorded at 2.6% in December 2024.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Trade unions<\/strong> made it clear that a pay offer below 3% would have triggered new industrial action, forcing the government to settle above its initial guidance.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

    When Will NHS Staff Receive the 2025\/26 Pay Rise?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    The confirmed NHS pay rise for 2025\/26<\/strong> will be reflected in August 2025 pay packets and backdated to 1 April 2025<\/strong>.
    Backdated pay will also adjust tax and pension contributions automatically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    NHS Band 2 and Band 3 Pay Updates<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

    In January 2025, the government adjusted Band 2 and Band 3<\/strong> salaries in line with the National Living Wage<\/strong>.
    These changes ensured that Band 2 staff received at least the minimum legal hourly rate and that Band 3 pay remained higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • Band 2 staff received a 2.35% increase<\/strong>, raising their salary to \u00a324,169<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Band 3 staff with under two years of experience received a 2.3% increase<\/strong>, taking them to \u00a324,625<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      These interim uplifts came into effect before the national agreement and will now combine with the 3.6% Agenda for Change pay award<\/strong> for the 2025\/26 financial year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      NHS Pay Scales 2025\/26: Full Band Breakdown<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      Below are the confirmed and predicted NHS salary bands for 2025\/26, reflecting the 3.6% pay increase. Figures for London Weighting (HCAS) are estimated until official confirmation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Band 1<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

      Band 1 is no longer used for new NHS contracts. Remaining employees under Band 1 are paid at Band 2 rates<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Band 2<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
      Years of Experience<\/th>National Pay 2024\/25<\/th>Confirmed Pay 2025\/26<\/th>Predicted Inner London<\/th>Predicted Outer London<\/th>Predicted Fringe<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
      0+<\/td>\u00a323,614<\/td>\u00a324,464<\/td>\u00a330,045<\/td>\u00a329,152<\/td>\u00a325,743<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

      Band 3<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
      Years of Experience<\/th>National Pay 2024\/25<\/th>Confirmed Pay 2025\/26<\/th>Predicted Inner London<\/th>Predicted Outer London<\/th>Predicted Fringe<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
      0\u20132<\/td>\u00a324,072<\/td>\u00a324,939<\/td>\u00a330,519<\/td>\u00a329,626<\/td>\u00a326,216<\/td><\/tr>
      2+<\/td>\u00a325,674<\/td>\u00a326,599<\/td>\u00a332,178<\/td>\u00a331,284<\/td>\u00a327,902<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

      Band 4<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
      Years of Experience<\/th>National Pay 2024\/25<\/th>Confirmed Pay 2025\/26<\/th>Predicted Inner London<\/th>Predicted Outer London<\/th>Predicted Fringe<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
      0\u20133<\/td>\u00a326,529<\/td>\u00a327,484<\/td>\u00a333,062<\/td>\u00a332,169<\/td>\u00a328,830<\/td><\/tr>
      3+<\/td>\u00a329,114<\/td>\u00a330,162<\/td>\u00a336,159<\/td>\u00a334,844<\/td>\u00a331,639<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

      Band 5<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
      Years of Experience<\/th>National Pay 2024\/25<\/th>Confirmed Pay 2025\/26<\/th>Predicted Inner London<\/th>Predicted Outer London<\/th>Predicted Fringe<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
      0\u20132<\/td>\u00a329,970<\/td>\u00a331,049<\/td>\u00a337,223<\/td>\u00a335,731<\/td>\u00a332,570<\/td><\/tr>
      2\u20134<\/td>\u00a332,324<\/td>\u00a333,488<\/td>\u00a340,147<\/td>\u00a338,474<\/td>\u00a335,128<\/td><\/tr>
      4+<\/td>\u00a336,483<\/td>\u00a337,796<\/td>\u00a345,312<\/td>\u00a343,424<\/td>\u00a339,648<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

      Band 6<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
      Years of Experience<\/th>National Pay 2024\/25<\/th>Confirmed Pay 2025\/26<\/th>Predicted Inner London<\/th>Predicted Outer London<\/th>Predicted Fringe<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
      0\u20132<\/td>\u00a337,339<\/td>\u00a338,682<\/td>\u00a346,373<\/td>\u00a344,441<\/td>\u00a340,577<\/td><\/tr>
      2\u20135<\/td>\u00a339,404<\/td>\u00a340,824<\/td>\u00a348,941<\/td>\u00a346,720<\/td>\u00a342,824<\/td><\/tr>
      5+<\/td>\u00a344,961<\/td>\u00a346,580<\/td>\u00a354,992<\/td>\u00a352,470<\/td>\u00a348,730<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

      Band 7<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
      Years of Experience<\/th>National Pay 2024\/25<\/th>Confirmed Pay 2025\/26<\/th>Predicted Inner London<\/th>Predicted Outer London<\/th>Predicted Fringe<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
      0\u20132<\/td>\u00a346,148<\/td>\u00a347,809<\/td>\u00a356,220<\/td>\u00a353,699<\/td>\u00a349,958<\/td><\/tr>
      2\u20135<\/td>\u00a348,526<\/td>\u00a350,273<\/td>\u00a358,681<\/td>\u00a356,160<\/td>\u00a352,419<\/td><\/tr>
      5+<\/td>\u00a352,808<\/td>\u00a354,709<\/td>\u00a363,113<\/td>\u00a360,592<\/td>\u00a356,852<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

      Band 8a<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
      Years of Experience<\/th>National Pay 2024\/25<\/th>Confirmed Pay 2025\/26<\/th>Predicted Inner London<\/th>Predicted Outer London<\/th>Predicted Fringe<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
      0\u20132<\/td>\u00a353,754<\/td>\u00a355,690<\/td>\u00a364,093<\/td>\u00a361,571<\/td>\u00a357,831<\/td><\/tr>
      2\u20135<\/td>\u00a356,454<\/td>\u00a358,486<\/td>\u00a366,887<\/td>\u00a364,366<\/td>\u00a360,625<\/td><\/tr>
      5+<\/td>\u00a360,504<\/td>\u00a362,682<\/td>\u00a371,079<\/td>\u00a368,558<\/td>\u00a364,817<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

      Band 8b<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
      Years of Experience<\/th>National Pay 2024\/25<\/th>Confirmed Pay 2025\/26<\/th>Predicted Inner London<\/th>Predicted Outer London<\/th>Predicted Fringe<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
      0\u20132<\/td>\u00a362,215<\/td>\u00a364,455<\/td>\u00a372,850<\/td>\u00a370,328<\/td>\u00a366,588<\/td><\/tr>
      2\u20135<\/td>\u00a366,247<\/td>\u00a368,632<\/td>\u00a377,023<\/td>\u00a374,501<\/td>\u00a370,761<\/td><\/tr>
      5+<\/td>\u00a372,299<\/td>\u00a374,902<\/td>\u00a383,286<\/td>\u00a380,765<\/td>\u00a377,025<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

      Band 8c<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
      Years of Experience<\/th>National Pay 2024\/25<\/th>Confirmed Pay 2025\/26<\/th>Predicted Inner London<\/th>Predicted Outer London<\/th>Predicted Fringe<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
      0\u20132<\/td>\u00a374,290<\/td>\u00a376,964<\/td>\u00a385,347<\/td>\u00a382,826<\/td>\u00a379,085<\/td><\/tr>
      2\u20135<\/td>\u00a378,814<\/td>\u00a381,651<\/td>\u00a390,029<\/td>\u00a387,508<\/td>\u00a383,768<\/td><\/tr>
      5+<\/td>\u00a385,601<\/td>\u00a388,682<\/td>\u00a397,054<\/td>\u00a394,532<\/td>\u00a390,792<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

      Band 8d<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
      Years of Experience<\/th>National Pay 2024\/25<\/th>Confirmed Pay 2025\/26<\/th>Predicted Inner London<\/th>Predicted Outer London<\/th>Predicted Fringe<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
      0\u20132<\/td>\u00a388,167<\/td>\u00a391,341<\/td>\u00a399,710<\/td>\u00a397,189<\/td>\u00a393,448<\/td><\/tr>
      2\u20135<\/td>\u00a393,571<\/td>\u00a396,940<\/td>\u00a3105,303<\/td>\u00a3102,782<\/td>\u00a399,041<\/td><\/tr>
      5+<\/td>\u00a3101,677<\/td>\u00a3105,337<\/td>\u00a3113,692<\/td>\u00a3111,171<\/td>\u00a3107,431<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

      Band 9<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
      Years of Experience<\/th>National Pay 2024\/25<\/th>Confirmed Pay 2025\/26<\/th>Predicted Inner London<\/th>Predicted Outer London<\/th>Predicted Fringe<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
      0\u20132<\/td>\u00a3105,480<\/td>\u00a3109,277<\/td>\u00a3117,629<\/td>\u00a3115,107<\/td>\u00a3111,367<\/td><\/tr>
      2\u20135<\/td>\u00a3111,739<\/td>\u00a3115,762<\/td>\u00a3124,107<\/td>\u00a3121,586<\/td>\u00a3117,845<\/td><\/tr>
      5+<\/td>\u00a3121,270<\/td>\u00a3125,636<\/td>\u00a3133,972<\/td>\u00a3131,450<\/td>\u00a3127,710<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

      High Cost Area Supplement (HCAS) for 2025\/26<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      The High Cost Area Supplement<\/strong>, also known as London Weighting<\/strong>, will continue to apply for 2025\/26. While unions have called for adjustments beyond London, no significant changes are expected this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      HCAS Area<\/th>Rate of Supplement<\/th>Minimum 2024\/25<\/th>Predicted Minimum 2025\/26<\/th>Maximum 2024\/25<\/th>Predicted Maximum 2025\/26<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
      Inner London<\/td>20%<\/td>\u00a35,415<\/td>\u00a35,610<\/td>\u00a38,171<\/td>\u00a38,465<\/td><\/tr>
      Outer London<\/td>15%<\/td>\u00a34,552<\/td>\u00a34,716<\/td>\u00a35,735<\/td>\u00a35,941<\/td><\/tr>
      Fringe Areas<\/td>5%<\/td>\u00a31,258<\/td>\u00a31,303<\/td>\u00a32,121<\/td>\u00a32,197<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

      What to Expect Next<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      Further updates on NHS pay scales for 2026<\/strong> will depend on inflation, government funding, and NHS Pay Review Body recommendations. However, given the 2025\/26 uplift, most analysts expect any 2026 adjustment to remain modest\u2014likely between 2% and 3%<\/strong> unless inflation accelerates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      The confirmed 3.6% NHS pay rise for 2025\/26<\/strong> ensures that staff across all bands\u2014from entry-level healthcare assistants to senior managers\u2014receive a real increase in take-home pay, reinforcing recruitment and retention across the health service.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      The UK Government has confirmed a 3.6% pay rise for all NHS staff under the Agenda for Change framework for the 2025\/26 financial year. This increase replaces the earlier 3.5% prediction and will affect every pay band from Band 2 upwards. The updated NHS pay tables for 2025\/26 show how this rise will be applied […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":288,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-benefits"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/myinformernews.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/myinformernews.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/myinformernews.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myinformernews.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myinformernews.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/myinformernews.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50,"href":"https:\/\/myinformernews.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48\/revisions\/50"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myinformernews.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/myinformernews.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myinformernews.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myinformernews.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}